Amazon is raising the minimum wage for US workers to $15 per hour

Amazon is rumored to open 3,000 of its state-of-the-art cashierless Go stores in its efforts to expand within the grocery market industry.
USA TODAY

In this Dec. 20, 2017, file photo, a variety of items are stocked on shelves at the Amazon Prime warehouse in New York. Same-day delivery promises the convenience of online ordering with nearly the same immediacy of store buying.(Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon is boosting its minimum wage for all U.S. workers to $15 per hour starting next month.

The company said Tuesday that the wage hike will benefit more than 350,000 workers, which includes full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal positions. It includes Whole Foods employees. Amazon's hourly operations and customer service employees, some who already make $15 per hour, will also see a wage increase, the Seattle-based company said.

Amazon has more than 575,000 employees globally.

Amazon employs more than 10,000 Kentucky workers at 11 fulfillment centers. Near the Louisville area, Amazon has a fulfillment center in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

Pay for workers at Amazon can vary by location. Its starting pay is $10 an hour at a warehouse in Austin, Texas, and $13.50 an hour in Robbinsville, New Jersey. The median pay for an Amazon employee last year was $28,446, according to government filings, which includes full-time, part-time and temporary workers.

Amazon said its public policy team will start pushing for an increase in the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

"We intend to advocate for a minimum wage increase that will have a profound impact on the lives of tens of millions of people and families across this country," Jay Carney, senior vice president of Amazon global corporate affairs, said in a statement.